SHALI, WE CAPITAUZE OUR FORESTS? 225 



Another result of this method of financing is the lack of sufficient 

 funds to carry on public forestry work. Any one who has tried, knows 

 how difficult it is to get appropriations from either our State legis- 

 latures or Congress for growing of forests. It is almost impossible 

 to get sufficient funds guaranteed over a long enough period of time 

 so that a real constructive program for purchasing timberland, and 

 planting waste land can be carried through. This is recognized by 

 all concerned, and is the big reason why the necessity of working out 

 some policy which will result in the practice of forestry on private 

 holdings is felt so keenly today. There are many reasons, direct and 

 indirect, political and non-political, for this condition, but these could 

 all be overcome if the people really felt that they were getting value 

 received for the money spent. The writer feels that the fundamental 

 reason for the smallness of appropriations is that the people have no 

 way of knowing the value of the assets which are being accumulated 

 to represent the expenditures. The writer does not know of any 

 financial statement by either the Federal or State governments which 

 would enable one to judge as to the financial soundness of the Govern- 

 ment grown forests. Reports are full of interesting figures as to the 

 cost of details but there is nothing which corresponds in any way to 

 the balance sheet and the income sheet which the ordinary business 

 concern puts out. 



A third result of continuing this method of financing the growing of 

 Government forests, will be the necessity of putting the mandatory 

 principle into effect. If private capital is not going to be attracted to 

 the business of growing forests and the appropriations which the tax 

 payer will vote to Government forestry departments are already ap- 

 proaching their limit— it follows, as the night the day, that the present 

 landowner must be required to keep his land productive. The only 

 other alternative is that we allow the situation to get so serious that 

 private capital will be tempted into the business in spite of the danger 

 of unfair compeition with the Government. What is the cure? 



The writer believes that the cure consists in making our Govern- 

 ment forests responsible to the Government, or its citizens direct, for 

 all the real costs which have gone into them. He believes that if this 

 were done and the principle of expropriation was put into effect, it 

 w'ould not be necessary to make mandatory regulations covering the 

 management of private timberland, and that considerable of the future 

 forest wrmlil be grown under private management. There are several 



